Kalos' hero-brother-sister knew so many people in this world. S/he had so many friends. And their friends knew so many friends. Kalos was not yet ready to know so many people, but when they learned that one of these friends was a woman who specialized in gorgon fashion, Kalos wasn't the only one excited to meet her.

Brother Gawain had given her a list before he left to go be a hero. On this list were letters that said things that Kalos did not know. She had only learned A and B so far because she had to hit the A button to make the super plumber kart go. And the B button made it stop. Kalos was looking at this encrypted message from the safety of a pillow fort while also attempting to keep one eye toward the kitchen hallway that attached to the hall that eventually went to the outside.

That was where this Gina Schuyler fellow was supposed to show up. She was supposed to be easily identifiable and Kalos was promised that she would like her.

Time. Would. Tell.

Gina regularly volunteered at the Mansion. Mostly because it gave her an excuse to keep hanging-out there, but also because she loved the kids, it looked good for her social work, and she just... well, couldn't leave. It was like her home away from home.

Most days she helped with odd jobs around the Mansion and went wherever she was needed (there was a lot that went into teaching and caring for as many mutant kids as there were running around the school). Today she was there for an entirely different reason, however. At some point in had come up in a conversation between her and Maya that Gina was also pursuing a fashion design degree, and her freelance clothing design endeavors on the side. This led to a discussion of one young-ish Xavier's kiddo needing clothes that accomodated them, and a plea for Gina to see if she could work her magic.

Sure, Gina had replied. Though she'd been blessed with an adoptive mom who knew her way around a sewing machine, not all kids were that lucky. There were plenty of studies about emanipated minorship having a higher prevalence amongst mutant kids, and other such things... so Gina saw no issue in providing her services to someone who legitimately needed her help.

Gina arrived to Xavier's in the early afternoon. Since the seasons had finally started to turn, she donned a warmer ensemble-- an enormous teal sweater (with a knit so loose, it was practically begging for snags) and a pair of black fleece-lined leggings. As always, she wore an oversized pair of shades and had her hair wrangled into a sloppy bun. Today, she'd taken the bus, since she was accompanied by her "baby" (her sewing machine). The gargoyle trailed down the hallway, eyes swimming around the entryhall. This was where Mirror had wanted to meet, right? Right?

Gina clasped the carrying case in one hand, and had her bag slung off of the opposite shoulder. Maybe she should find a place to set her stuff, first?

Kalos narrowed her eyes at a very, very tall female with very, very big hands and a very, very pink hoodie. Kalos approved of the pink, but she didn't think that one was Gina. She went back to looking at the secret message her sister-brother-hero had encoded. There were not very many B's. More A's than B's.

Actually... she didn't know what either one sounded like when spoken. Hmmmm.

She plucked at her favorite hoodie where it tented because of the shoulder spires of coral. Today she'd opted for shorts that were a very yellow-y yellow. That left the patches of rough skin and coral free to snag the carpet where she knelt.

This paper was complete nonsense. Some of it kind of looked like letters she knew were Greek, but it wasn't like she could read Greek either.

And when Kalos next looked up there was a curly girl with shiny glasses and bunches of things to hold. She looked lost. And she looked grey in the skin, a little like her Chase friend. THAT was her Gina. Kalos gave her as much scrutiny as the crack between couch cushions would allow. She was a very, very pretty gorgon.

"Are your Gina?" She shouted from the living room so she could hear her from inside her fort. It was easier to be loud when no one could see her. It was less embarrassing.

>> "Are you Gina?"

The voice rang through the hall and, shame on Gina, she couldn't put a finger on where it was coming from, especially given the echo-chamber-like qualities of the foyer. Gina looked around, moving only a few steps from the spot where she'd paused.

"I am definitely Gina!" the gargoyle confirmed, "Last I checked!"

It was a young voice that had addressed her. Definitely a girl. Gina slid her phone in her pocket. Perhaps this was Maya/Gawain's student-in-question. Kalos, right?

"Who are you?"

Another confused quarter-turn.

"Or I guess... where are you?... would be a better a question."

It was she! Kalos very nearly stood up in excitement, but that would have ruined her best pillow fort. The cushions from the couch were stiff and that made for very good walls. The opening had been closed up with the fluffiest blanket from her bed upstairs. She would try to remember to return it, but for now the small and dark space was the best thing that had happened to Kalos in a long time. She could see out and no one else seemed to be able to see inside very well. In here, she was the most safe she had ever been.

> "Who are you?"

The way she asked it was part confusion and Kalos detected some amusement. She supposed it was a funny trick to talk to no one.

"I am Kalos, Queen of the Gorgon." She answered in her most queenly voice so that the amusement in the other woman would turn to awe. Kalos'd worked the title out herself once the other gorgon students had shown up. Having paved the way for them and having learned some important things that she had shared, no one contested her right for royalty (though some of the older ones had rolled their eyes at her).

"I have a message from my hero-sister-brother for you, Gina Gorgon." She scooped it up, all ready to slip it through the crack between cushions should the gorgon approach.

So it was Kalos who was speaking to her-- of course it was. Gina didn't exactly know the voice, so the only explanations were that it was either the shifter kid, or it was Kalos. The gargoyle smirked at the small voice's grandiose introduction.

"Oh! My liege~" the gargoyle answered back, bowing her head. She would have bowed more theatrically, but she didn't want to run the risk of dropping the sewing machine. The gargoyle glanced around, continuing to search for "Queen" Kalos.

>> "I have a message from my hero-sister-brother for you, Gina Gorgon."

The voice sounded like it was coming from the living room, maybe? And, upon closer inspection, the gargoyle noticed a bastion of couch cushions and pillows alike. She would assume that this had been the Queen's castle of choice. The gargoyle approached, head bent supplicatingly but a smile upon her lips.

"My liege, are you... in your chambers?" the gargoyle asked, setting the sewing machine case as she stooped to peek through the crevice of the cushion-fort.

Gina took it much better than anyone else who'd heard Kalos proclaim herself queen. There was no argument. Just straight into respect and obeisance.

Kalos could get used to that.

The coral girl squirmed in her enclosure as the other gorgon approached which made the cushions rattle in place. She was too excited to stay put, though. Even as Gina was asking something silly, Kalos was kicking down her own front door.

In person and up close, the other gorgon was a marvel. She seemed so... happy. And secure. And free. She didn't seem to be affected at all by her non-demigod appearance. She was everything Kalos wanted to grow up to be. She was a gorgon and a lady. There was no need to be shy.

"My hero sister-brother has this message for you, dear Gina." The paper was proffered with all due dignity and pomp, the coral girl's hands were even encased in dainty white nylon gloves. On the paper was Mirror's scratchy scrawl:
"KALOS WANTS TO BE A PRINCESS FOR HALLOWEEN."
and a short explanation of the trouble they'd had in finding clothes in general.

The trouble was easy enough to spot. Kalos had patches of growth where her coral made her silhouette somewhat inhuman. The elbows and knees and shoulders especially seemed to be a favorite place for her coral to grow, though small and low patches littered her skin all over. And of course, her crown.

"I am told that you are a very nice person." Her belief in that statement was absolute. Clearly it came from a trusted source.

There was wriggling in the fortress, a toppling of cushions which fell away to reveal a very pink little kid. Pink and spiny, with sea-blue eyes. Gina's tail gave a delighted curl. What a cutie!!

>> "My hero sister-brother has this message for you, dear Gina."

Gina set her sewing machine down, accepting the note with two hands. She flipped it over, brown eyes flicking over the message.

'Kalos wants to be a princess for Halloween.'

Oh, so she was in her princess phase? Gina had fallen hardcore into her princess phase as a little kid, always a huge fan of pink of floof and being treated regally. A smile touched her expression.

>> "I am told that you are a very nice person."

Kids were so filter-free. It was so refreshing.

"I try to be," Gina answered honestly, "My liege-- it says you need some queenly clothes. Is that so?"

Kalos liked the reverence that this Gina gave to the paper. The paper was important enough to receive and contemplate. Meanwhile, Kalos had time to look at the woman from head to toe.
Head, including horns and the most frothy brown curls that Kalos had seen on anyone ever. Body, including TAIL and WINGS. Toes which were fewer in number and on the end of legs that folded not like demigods were used to folding.

She was amaaaaaazing. Kalos' eyes became large and larger with every new discovery. And she even got the queen part right. Kalos was a queen. Not a princess.

Still, to be addressed as liege was a play too far outside what the girl was used to. She flushed purple where her blue (royal) blood came close to the pink pigmented skin of her cheeks.
"You are— You have my allowance to speak easy with me, Miss Gina." There maybe that would address the liege thing.

"Yes please. These demigod clothes are not made for corals like me." Kalos plucked again at the silliness that was her sweatshirt and how it tented almost up to her chin because of how it was hung up on her coral outcroppings. "This sweatshirt is my best favorite even as the shoulders are a bother. See the sequins?" She demonstrated how when she flipped them all upwards towards her face, the underside of the sequins showed a riot of rainbow colors. And when Kalos ran her hand over the sequins they all flipped to show the other side which was all one color. "It's magic!"

Gina was not sure what "Demigod clothes" were, but she listened as Kalos spoke, her hand resting just below her lip. Kalos demonstrated how her sweatshirt, covered in sequins, was her favorite because of how they changed colors. Internally, the gargoyle felt a simmering dread. That was a lot of detail work and, though doable, would take hours upon hours to replicate. There were simply some feats that handmade fashion couldn't replicate.

"It is magic!" the gargoyle agreed, smiling, "I like how sparkly it is. And I don't think I ever had clothes that changed colors like that..."

As the gargoyle commented on the coral-child's favorite sweater, she was taking mental notes. So the dress needed to accommodate her coral growths, and would definitely (definitely!) need to include some sparkles. Most likely. Maybe something that fastened around the neck, had open shoulders and then long sleeves... in case it was cold. Maybe a capelet! That was regal!

Gina took the sewing machine handle in one hand, standing up again, and she nodded towards the couches in the living room. Though most of the couches had been sheared of their cushions, there were a few chairs that hadn't been shed.

"Let's go sit on the couches, Miss Kalos," the gargoyle said warmly, "And you can tell me all about the queenly outfit you'd like."

> "And I don't think I ever had clothes that changed colors like that..."

"Not for me either!" She was so enthusiastic that she didn't realize how loud her volume was until she'd already half-shouted it. With wide eyes Kalos shut her mouth before any more excitement escaped. No one liked to be shouted at. "But my sister-brother buy this for me when I come here." She ran her hands around her tummy, her hard fingers making fvip, fvip, fvip, fvip, fvip, fvip, fvip against the plastic scales. Yeah, she liked the sequins. She liked her brother-sister most.

"I do not have a knowing of what queens of land wear." Kalos trotted after the gorgon. Really, if she were queen she would be walking first. Especially with one of her own peoples. This gorgon did not know propriety, but since she was kind and good and trying Kalos would be overlooking this. "The mad king wore long wrap clothes, but I do not want to dress Atlantean. I want to be queen of gorgons here."

Gina listened attentively as Kalos spoke, a patient smile crossing her lips as the two crossed into the living room. There was an unoccupied pair of seats. Gina took the small armchair, setting her machine down on the floor. She stepped up onto the cushion, then sat down with her legs folded beneath her, and tail wrapped around them. Something was so familiar about these couches, like the couches at home.

As she pulled her sketchbook out of her bag, Gina thanked her lucky stars that this Halloween was a good year for princess sewing patterns. It felt like there was far more variety than the past year(s). Gina cracked open her sketchbook, fished out a pencil, and surveyed Kalos.

"Where are you from?" the gargoyle asked, her tone lilting and conversational. With her talk of mad kings and Atlantean dress, it seemed like a fair question to ask. To the best of her knowledge, there were no toga-clad kings in Atlanta...

Gina touched her pencil to her paper, drawing a quick outline of a child.

"I can show you what some queen's might wear here, and you can tell me what you think, okay?" the gargoyle offered. The first aspect was a poofy skirt, which had an overlay over the main piece of fabric. Along the top, Gina drew a vagely v-shaped line, where the top would connect to the skirt. She drew a scoop neck and, over the shoulders, big round sleeves. The gargoyle's gaze flickered to the child's shoulders. She had some huge spines coming out of them, so the extra fabic would be beneficial.

Gina drew a little smiley face on the figure, before showing it to Kalos. There was nothing signifying lace or trims... she'd get to that, Kalos's judgement determining.

"Some queens dress like this," Gina explained, "In dresses that have huuuuuge skirts and big, poofy sleeves."

"I am from the Atlantis ocean." She reported her origin a regally is possible. So many people asked and yet no one seemed to really understand, so this time she tried to expand her explanation. "We lived in the city of Atlantis under the water until the mad king took us up. I am queen of gorgon because I am first to be here. And best." Everyone said so. Maybe no the other gorgon, but they would once they saw her in queenly garments.

Ooooh. This Gina went straight to work. Kalos started by looking on from where she stood, but it became too curious for her to keep watching it upside down. Why were the shoulders so big? Kalos climbed up onto the couch next to Gina to watch even closer. Kalos appreciated the smile as an attempt to make this design more favorable, but not everything about it made her want to smile.

> "Some queens dress like this,"

"Why?" She blurted the question without thinking like a royal. Royals did not blurt. "I mean that I do not like to hide my coral. And I think that this part is going to make my seeing things very difficult." A little silk-clad finger hovered over the poofiest of sleeves. Kalos liked the more streamlined land fashion. But it was clearly not made for her. Hence the need for a royal tailor. "I very much like this." The part she loved? The bell-like skirt. It looked like an excellent place to hide.

>> "Why? I mean that I do not like to hide my coral. And I think that this part is going to make my seeing things very difficult."

Gina smiled at Kalos's retort. She wanted her coral to be visible. In a way, that made things easier... Or it could very well make things more difficult. That depended on whether or not Kalos wanted sleeves. The gargoyle flipped the pencil around, lightly scrubbing at the paper with the eraser.

>> "I very much like this."

The skirt remained. Gina once again pressed the pencil to the page.

"We could always do a dress with a high neckline and an open back," she drew a few lines to signify, almost like a choker, and two diagonal lines, like the bottom part of an "A".

"This part-" Gina traced a taloned finger along the neckline, "Would button around the back of your neck, and leave your back and shoulders exposed. So that everyone could see your coral!"

"We could even add sleeves, to keep your arms warm."

Kalos had learned about pencils, but hadn't seen them in action to her satisfaction. Most students used pen.
Why when there was a pink bit of magic on the back that swept the marks away? Kalos watched as closely as she thought socially appropriate, which was to say that she got close enough to smell it. The very big bunch of froth at the shoulders went away. A few gentle touches later and there were shoulders on this simulacrum again and Miss Gina Gorgon made new lines that helped Kalos see a new kind of dress. One far more worthy of a royal.

"I think I like this neck." And open in the back was fine. The more naked, the better, really. No one in Atlantis who thought themselves beautiful would bother covering their body.

"Instead of this sleeve, can I have glove?" Kalos held up her satin-y gloves given to her by her sister-brother-hero. They went a good way toward her elbow and easily kept her fingers together in the shapes that humans had, with or without the coral support inside. "This is cover my hands so I do not lose a piece."